Barriers removed from area that had housed Roosevelt Row homeless camp

A Roosevelt Row homeless camp clears out after being told they were violating a Phoenix ordinance against urban camping.

The city of Phoenix barricaded a median off Roosevelt and Third streets in downtown Phoenix on Saturday for cleaning and repairs. At least a dozen homeless people had set up camp in recent days.(Photo: Ricardo Cano / The Republic)

The barriers effectively closed what had become a homeless encampment on the land, in an area that had seen rapid development of high-rise towers filled with pricey condominiums and apartments.

The dozen or more homeless people, with their belongings in shopping carts, started sleeping in the area in mid-December, drawing complaints from residents who lived nearby.

In an email, Tamra Ingersoll, a city spokeswoman, said the barriers were removed Friday for routine cleaning of the site.

The city of Phoenix barricaded a median off Roosevelt and Third streets in downtown Phoenix on Saturday for cleaning and repairs. At least a dozen homeless people had set up camp in recent days.(Photo: Ricardo Cano / The Republic)

She said the area now has signs declaring it is a violation of city code to sleep there. And, she said, teams of contracted social workers would continue to reach out to any homeless people who might return.

Outreach teams had been offering shelter to people staying on the property since the encampment sprang up just before Christmas, the city said.

But the city took more aggressive steps to clear the area on Jan. 2, the first workday of the new year. Officers joined social workers and members of the city’s streets department crew in a sweep of the land. At least one man was arrested.

A few days later, the day of the January First Friday, the area was mysteriously cleared in the afternoon. The city said it took no unusual steps to clear people out. A few people returned to sleep there as the night wore on.

Homeless congregate at a median at Third and Roosevelt streets in downtown Phoenix on Jan. 2, 2018.(Photo: Michael Chow/The Republic)

The next day, the area was surrounded with interlocking metal barriers that announced the area was temporarily closed. City officials said the area needed cleaning and the lights in the art sculpture needed repairs.

A sign affixed to the barriers said that urban camping was outlawed on the property. “Absolutely no camping, lying or sleeping by order of Phoenix City Code,” the sign read.

The city was initially confused about how to handle the situation. It was not clear how the triangular-shaped patch, created by Roosevelt Street and two one-way portions of Third Street, was defined. It was not a city park, but rather ground underneath an art installation called "Shadow Play."

But the city attorney, in early January, declared the area was subject to the city regulation against urban camping because it was a right of way for utilities, including water lines, that ran below the property. The attorney declared the encampment illegal and said it threatened public health and safety.

Phoenix police officers talk to people at a median at Third and Roosevelt Streets in downtown Phoenix on Jan. 2, 2018. Homeless people have been congregating at the median, which has sculptures that provide shade. Michael Chow/The Republic

The city of Phoenix says the area is governed by an the ordinance against urban camping and called the gathering an “illegal homeless encampment” that threatens the public health and safety. Michael Chow/The Republic